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Left Handed Marriage
Adapted from article by Andy Davis / John S Stuart In the summer of 1965, in another corner of Hampton Grammar School, Brian May's old friend Bill Richards (who had been a fleeting, early member of 1984 before it acquired its futuristic name), and his colleagues Jenny Hill (nee Rusbridge), Henry Deval, Terry Goulds and John Frankel, formed a folk-rock band called the Left-Handed Marriage, named after an archaic form of marrying beneath oneself. Explains John; “the group was always a quintet - we played our one and only live performance in September 1966. Pictures of the five of us line the top of the album's notes”. By January 1967, the quintet had progressed to the point where they had issued their own privately pressed album, "On The Right Side Of The Left Handed Marriage", which ran to just fifty copies (and, incidentally, has since acquired cult status among collectors, with a £600 price tag to match). Although naturally familiar with the album, Brian May as yet had not been involved with the band. That changed in March 1967, after Bill signed a twelve-month contract with EMI's music publishing company Ardmore & Beechwood - a deal secured through the efforts of Brian Henderson, a former member of Edinburgh beat outfit the Mark Five, and more recently, the bassist in Patrick Campbell Lyons' 60s psychedelic band, Nirvana. Bill approached Brian to help him create a "fuller" sound for the Left Handed Marriage, with a request to provide guitar and backing vocals on some recording sessions. On the under-standing that the project wouldn't interfere with his commitment to 1984, Brian agreed. On 4th April 1967, he joined Jenny, Henry, Terry and Bill in AMC Sound, an amateur studio in Manor Road, Twickenham, to record four songs: "Give Me Time" (later changed to "I Need Time"), "She Was Once My Friend", "Sugar Lump Girl" and "Yours Sincerely" (which was basically "Give Me Time" backwards, with new lyrics pinched from the Russian author Pushkin). The songs were all cleanly recorded, melodic attempts at 1967 pop (despite the Left Handed Marriage's later classification, there's little actual folk music in evidence). "She Was Once My Friend" is the pick of the bunch, thanks to its Kinks-like structure - complete with Bill Richard's Ray Davies-sound-alike vocal and, albeit way down in the mini:, flashes of that distinctive Brian May 'Red Special' guitar sound. Acetates of the AMC EP were cut, and the idea had been to release the songs as a commercial EP. Instead, the set merely became the Left Handed Marriage's first demo for their publishers, although it did lead to the offer to record at a more professional session - at EMI's prestigious Abbey Road studios. The Abbey Road session took place on 28th June 1967, when Left Handed Marriage were joined by Brian and 1984's Dave Dilloway, who was drafted in to play bass for the absent John Frankel. “At that point, says John, “I went to America for five months. It was during that time that Brian May joined us and the Abbey Road session took place. Dave Dilloway replaced me at that recording, as I was not due back in England until the end of July 1967, but Dave was never part of the group”. Two further tracks were cut: the reworked "I Need Time", and a new song called "Appointment". At this stage, there was more talk of issuing a record, this time a single, and a release date of August was even discussed. This never materialised either, and again 7" acetates are all that remain. Although Ardmore & Beechwood were pleased with the results, they still thought the Left Handed Marriage could improve their sound even further, and on 31st July 1967, they booked the band into another studio, this time Regent Sound in central London. By this time, original bassist John Frankel had returned from his trip to the USA and was recalled upon to play bass and piano, which meant that temporary replacement, Dave Dilloway was not required for the session. Recalls John in a letter to Record Collector magazine, “When we did the Regent Sound recording, I was back as the bass (and piano) player…”. The eight-track Regent Sound ma-chine was something of a technological marvel, and the session was flawlessly recorded, resulting in new versions of "I Need Time", "She Was Once My Friend" (which also remixed and edited for the abandoned single), and "Appointment". Despite the studio quality of the tape, Ardmore & Beechwood failed to place the songs with a record label, and like so many groups before and since, the Left Handed Marriage quietly disappeared from view. It was left to frontman Bill Richards belatedly to issue the fruits of this last session, when in February 1993, he tagged the three Regent Sound recordings - the final mix of "I Need Time", the abridged version of "She Was Once A Friend Of Mine" and the final mix of "Appointment" - onto the end of "Crazy Chain", a CD recorded by the reformed Left Handed Marriage, which itself was prompted by collector's interest in the group's original 1967 LP, "The Right Hand Side Of....". Most of the master tapes for the LHM recordings featuring Brian May have long since disappeared along with the Regent Sound studio, and (with the exception of "She Was Once My Friend") the Richards/May collaborations on the CD were' digitally remastered from acetates. Recording information Session 1 Recording information Date: 4 April 1967 Studio: Manor Road, Twickenham. Songs recorded Give Me Time She Was Once My Friend Yours Sincerely Sugar Lump Girl Credits Produced by: All songs written and owned by Bill Richards Musicians Bill Richards: 12 string guitar, vocals Brian May: lead guitar Terry Goulds: flute, vocals Jenny Hill and Henry Deval: vocals Status unreleased Session 2 Recording information Date: 28 June 1967 Studio: EMI Studios, St. John's Wood Songs recorded I Need Time She Was Once My Friend Credits Produced by: All songs written and owned by Bill Richards Musicians Bill Richards: 12 string guitar, vocals Brian May: lead guitar Dave Dilloway: bass guitar Jenny Hill, Henry Deval, and Terry Goulds: vocals Status unreleased Session 3 Recording information Date: 28 July 1967 Studio: Regent Sound Songs recorded I Need Time She Was Once My Friend Appointment Credits Produced by: All songs written and owned by Bill Richards Musicians Bill Richards: 12 string guitar, vocals Brian May: lead guitar John Frankel: bass guitar Peter Trout: drums Jenny Hill, Henry Deval, and Terry Goulds: vocals Status released on Crazy Chain compilation, February 1993